Phantom's Woman
by evanesce24
Summary: What would have happened if Phantom Lord had not been disbanded? What if Juvia's guild mates had convinced her to forget about Gray who called the rain gloomy? Here's that story. Totuvia.
1. Fairy Tail

**What would have happened if Phantom Lord was not disbanded by the council? Totuvia.**

Four couches were set up around a table in a lavish room, each a seat for an incredibly strong mage. This room in the Phantom Lord guild building was the private room of the guild's crown jewels: Element 4.

A fireplace blazed in the south wall of the room, in front of which, Totomaru was sitting on a red couch, leaning over the table. He peered at a map of a city called Magnolia.

Aria, who sat on a green couch across the table from Totomaru slouched, his arms spread across the back of the couch and asked, "How's it look, Toto?"

"Good," the fire mage smiled. "Very good. Their guild building is right on the shoreline, so it'll be easy to get Gajeel in and out without having to make a scene through the entire town."

Aria nodded. "Yes, I think Jose's plan will go over very well. All we have to do is map out where the target will be and how to best execute the capture. Juvia, Sol, you two will be the ones to collect the target."

Sol sprang up from the brown couch on the east side of the table and stood next to the map, declaring, "Oui! We will retrieve this cible for Master Jose and illuminate the strength of Phantom Lord's superiority over Fairy Tail!"

"Sol, sit down," came a quiet mutter from the west side of the room. "Everyone knows Phantom is far greater than Fairy Tail of Magnolia. This is just another job, so calm down." Juvia Lockser leaned against the armrest of the couch closer to Aria, her feet in their thigh-high brown boots propped up on that of the other end.

"So sorry, Juvia," Sol sang, sitting back down. "But I am quite proud of myself today. Hiding in the earth, I've followed this girl for quite a while and gathered vital information. Every Saturday, she goes grocery shopping alone at this shop," he said, indicating the spot on the map. "And she always follows this route to and from her home. Geographically, the best place for us to intercept her would be here." Sol touched his finger to a narrow road in a quite, sparsely populated neighborhood of Magnolia: the perfect place for a kidnapping. "And according to Master Jose, Miss Juvia," Sol taunted, "this is not 'just another job,' as you say. Non, non, non! This is a clash of the guilds. After this, any question of our standing above the Fairies will be wiped away."

Juvia rolled her eyes at the brown-suited man, "Sol is getting far too excited over this." She turned away from them to rest her face on the soft, blue fabric of the couch.

Totomaru jeered, "Gosh, Juvia, you seem extra gloomy today. Careful not to drown anyone, okay?"

Aria and Sol's breath caught in their throats, shocked Toto would be so naïve as to think he could get a way with a comment like that after having worked with the Rain Woman for so long. Juvia stood up in a flash and glared Totomaru down with such ferocity, he quickly realized his mistake and begged for mercy. Juvia was a nearly invincible mage with a generally calm if not a bit melancholy disposition but a terrible temper when it came to her rain.

There were no windows in the room, but Juvia could hear the rain pounding all around her. She could always hear the rain, be she drenched in it or safe inside, she could always hear it. The time when she'd wished the rain away had long since past, for now she'd come to realize that she was more powerful in the rain, and Phantom Lord had no problem with it as others did. The Teru Teru Bozu she used to clip her shawl these days was simply nostalgic.

"Juvia is in a dull mood because she has a headache, and Sol is getting on her nerves. Now, if Totomaru doesn't like the rain, maybe Juvia should drown him, like he suggested. Then he won't have to experience such gloom all the time, right?"

"No, Juvia, I'm so sorry! That was an insensitive joke for me to make, please forgive me!" Totomaru pleaded.

Aria chuckled from across the room, knowing Juvia well enough to see what would come next. Juvia tilted her head a bit to the right, giving Toto a sinister half-smile. "Juvia does not forgive," she said coolly and held him in her Water Lock until he passed out from lack of oxygen.

Aria revived him, and though he truly had nothing against Juvia exercising her power, chastised her, "Rain Woman, you shouldn't be endangering the lives of your teammates. It brings me such great sorrow." Juvia settled down into her former position on the blue couch with a light nod, and they continued planning.

At the end of the meeting, Aria and Sol exited the room, but Juvia remained on her couch. "Juvia?" Totomaru whispered, walking over the her.

"What?" she met his eyes for a second and looked away again.

Totomaru, who'd grown to admire Juvia in the time they'd worked together, even love her, took her hand from where she rested it on her head and guided her off the couch. "You should get some rest for the night. Gajeel's gone out to destroy the Fairies' building, so the next couple days will be eventful. You and Sol kidnap the Princess Heartfilia in just a couple days. Be prepared."

"Yes," Juvia stood, taking her hand back form Totomaru's and walking out the door. "Juvia is always prepared. Drip, drip, drop."

* * *

><p>Juvia awoke the day after the successful capture of Lucy Heartfilia to find that the guild building, in which all of the guildmembers lived, was moving. She quickly put on her navy blue dress, hat, and shawl, and brown boots and ran out to see what was going on.<p>

"Juvia!" Totomaru caught her just as she was looking out the window to see where they were headed.

"Toto, where is Phantom going?"

"Seems Fairy Tail managed to take their princess back. Now that they know she's rich, they really want her. Don't worry, though: we'll just fire Jupiter at them, grab the girl, and be back home before long. If worst comes to worst, Titania and Salamander are their only true assets, and we can take them."

Juvia chuckled. "Salamander? The fire dragon doesn't stand a chance against Totomaru no matter how strong he thinks he is."

"Thanks, Juvia." Totomaru leaned in to kiss her pale cheek, but she pulled back.

"Toto, Juvia's said before that she's not interested. Why doesn't Totomaru stop wasting his time with Juvia and ask out Sue or someone?" Juvia suggested the short mirror mage with dark skin and brown-green hair, walking away from her teammate. He'd always been a good friend of Juvia's, but lately he clearly wanted more, and she just didn't. Mr. Right was out there somewhere, but it wasn't Toto.

"Sue's going out with Bozo, and you know it, Juvia," he sighed. "I'm sorry, though. I'll always love you, but friends is enough for now, I suppose."

"That's nice," Juvia smiled, walking back to her room. "Call Juvia if there's any trouble, okay?"

"Will do!" Totomaru called after her, not letting it show how let down he truly was.

* * *

><p>Juvia opened her eyes quickly to see Sue and Bozo standing over her, looking worried and then relieved. "Juvia, you're okay!" Sue smiled, helping her sit up. Juvia had just been in a fight with a boy from Fairy Tail: a very cute boy from Fairy Tail, if she remembered correctly.<p>

"We were worried you'd died. You, know, since it wasn't raining and all," Bozo added, one lens of his purple glasses still cracked.

"No, the rain isn't gone because Juvia died," she explained, standing up and picking up her Teru Teru Bozu from a piece of rubble. "The rain stopped because Juvia was happier than she's been in her whole life. Juvia fought an ice mage named Gray Fullbuster, and now her heart aches from loving him so."

Sue's eyes widened as her eyebrows moved towards each other and her jaw dropped. The short girl with the purple Phantom hat took Juvia's cold hands and tried to talk some sense into her. "Juvia, no! That mage was from Fairy Tail. You two were _fighting _when you met if you didn't notice. He and his guild are our enemies. Just look what they did to our guild building!"

Juvia looked around her to see her beloved Phantom Lord building in piles of stone, cracked and falling apart. Phantom was the first place to accept Juvia for who she was, to not complain about the constant rain. Sue and Bozo even worried about her when it stopped. Here at Phantom was where she was loved, so why couldn't she stop herself from loving a Fairy? He, the Fairy who destroyed her guild, was the one her heart beat so hard it hurt for? Juvia herself couldn't comprehend it. There must've been something wrong with her. Maybe it was just an in-the-moment sense: he was hot, a water-complementing ice mage, and forbidden (which will make anyone more attractive). Juvia didn't know this boy at all. Now that she thought of it, she'd forgiven him so quickly for outright calling the rain gloomy and complaining about it right in front of her eyes. Sure, he'd caught her before she fell from the building, but she'd have been fine if he hadn't. A couple water jets below her would've stopped the fall, or she could've even taken the fall to land in the ocean and emerge again, refreshed. No, there was nothing outstanding about the Fairy Tail ice mage. "He may be hot, but he felt the rain was gloomy, and Juvia does not forgive."

"He said that? What a jerk!" Bozo confirmed.

Juvia smiled sadly and took her hat from Sue, who'd picked it up for her from where it fell. "Juvia will just go to her room now, if it is still intact. Tell Juvia when Phantom gets home and Juvia will help rebuild."

Sue and Bozo nodded.

Juvia sulked in her room, which was miraculously unharmed. Gray seemed like the perfect person for her. Not just a pretty face, but smart too. Though she was his enemy, he saved her from what he thought was death. Because of him, she saw clear skies for the first time. They were so beautiful. She'd been sure water was destined to be with ice, but maybe she was wrong. Was this a sign that someone could love her, someone she loved as well? Or was it a sign that anyone she loved would ultimately not work out, and she should give Totomaru a chance?

Juvia didn't know what to do! Now, her heart hurt even more from the stress of having to see clearly. _It's as if the new sun has blinded Juvia_, she mused. Juvia buried her face in her pillows and clutched her Teru Teru Bozu, her lifetime companion, hoping she could find some comfort through all the confusion.

Always there for her, Totomaru knocked on her door and let himself in when she grunted permission. "Juvia? Are you okay?"

Composing herself, Juvia sat up and tried to seem unphased by her encounter with Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail. "Juvia is okay," she sighed, looking anything but.

Totomaru sat down next to her on the bed. "Juvia, you're freezing, here." He wrapped her in his arms to warm her up, for her skin felt like ice. "So, I heard from Bozo what happened earlier." He waited for Juvia to respond, but she'd completely shut down, so he continued. "Juvia, I know you only want to be friends, so I won't push anything with this, but you should know that as a friend and teammate, I'll always be here for you. We're the Element 4! Fairy Tail won on a series of flukes. We're still the strongest team of the strongest guild in Fiore."

Juvia smiled at her friend, but she couldn't help but feel like they would have won if she'd just sucked it up and given the fight with Gray her all, if she'd just killed him when she could and not held back. With her water body, Juvia was near invincible.

Toto saw the sadness that lingered in her eyes and gave her shoulders a light squeeze. "Come on, Juvia, it'll be fine. He isn't worth your heartache, especially if he called your gorgeous rain gloomy and didn't even apologize. Personally, I find the sun far too bright."

Being a fire mage, Totomaru was clearly lying about not liking the sun, but it was true that he didn't mind the rain one bit. Juvia genuinely smiled this time, her heart warmed by her teammate's words. Maybe water wasn't destined to be with ice, but with fire? With perfect timing, Juvia felt the building shake a bit as it hauled itself up from the ocean and began walking home, away from Fairy Tail and its jerk of an ice mage.

But Juvia's personal battle with that mage was not over.

**A bit different from my normal Gruvia, I want to try this thing out. Totuvia? In one of the other stories, **_**Gray's Epiphany**_**, the second chapter mentions that Totomaru loved Juvia as Juvia loves Gray, but she never returned his feelings. I liked that starting point, so I'm making it into it's own story in which the Council never disbands Phantom after the Lucy issue. Please review.**


	2. The Job

_Drip, drip, drop…_

_Drip, drip, drop…_

Juvia stared out the window of her room in the Phantom Lord guild building, which they'd just finished rebuilding. It now was able to move faster in its giant form and travel underwater as a submarine. Even though it hadn't been harmed, Juvia got to use the opportunity of the rebuilding to paint her room. Where the walls had once been light cobalt, they were now a dark sea blue. Juvia felt dark.

Not dark depressed, dark angry. The rain pounded on her window and fed her wild energy. It'd been a week since Phantom's fight with Fairy Tail, but the completion of the new building rekindled her memories of that inferior guild's jerky ice mage, Gray Fullbuster. She'd heard that Fairy Tail had remade their guild building as well. They'd made it bigger and flashier and altogether more commercial. _Pfft, Phantom is above all that. Phantom has class_, Juvia told herself. But if Phantom was above all that, why couldn't she stop thinking about Gray?

_Juvia hates him! How dare he manipulate Juvia's heart. How are he live on thinking he beat her. He didn't beat Juvia; Juvia lost her reason for just a few moments, but those few moments cost her her undefeated record! _Juvia screamed in her mind. She wished she could get one more chance to show him the true power of the rain. "How dare he make Juvia feel weak!" she shouted aloud, pounding her fists on the rain-streaked window.

"Juvia?" Juvia spun around to see Totomaru standing in her doorway with his hands raised defensively. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She let Gray win. It didn't count. She was still undefeated. Totomaru walked over to her with a comforting smile. "Master wants to talk to us about an important job. It has to do with Fairy Tail, so he didn't know if you'd be up for it, but I assured him you would be. You wouldn't pass up what Master says could be a game-changing job, would you?"

"Fairy Tail? Juvia'd be glad to take this job. No, Juvia insists on coming," she said, ready for her chance to get back at Gray for embarrassing her like that.

"I thought so. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Master Jose smiled down at the five of them (Element 4 and Gajeel Redfox), his dark purple lips curving just slightly. "Does everyone understand the mission?"<p>

Gajeel raised his hand but didn't wait to be called on. "Yeah, why does the 4 have to come with? I'm pretty sure I could take care of this guy on my own."

"Don't get cocky, Gajeel," Aria scolded. "You are very strong, but so is he. The job'll take all five of us for it go off without problems arising. And if anyone were cut out, it would be you."

"Mmm," Jose nodded but soon noticed the expression on Juvia's face. "Juvia, you seem troubled by this."

"Um, yes," Juvia cleared her throat before explaining herself. "Juvia feels like this job isn't exactly Phantom's style. If Master knows what she means. Phantom isn't a dark guild, and to Juvia, this seems like the type of job a dark guild would take."

"Juvia," Jose said as if speaking to a child, a tone of voice Juvia simply hated, "as Phantom Lord mages, we don't need a dark guild to do our dirty work for us. That, and we can't leave any holes through which word can get out that we were behind it. We must take out Gildarts Clive discretely and without causing too much of a stir. The Council was a hair away from disbanded us last week, so we simply can't risk it again. I hate to say it, but Fairy Tail is not to be underestimated. They have a few strong members do all the work and earn all the fame for the rest. Gildarts is their strongest, so to crush their spirit, we must take him out, understood?"

Juvia nodded even though she didn't fully understand it. She's had the unpleasant experience of fighting a Fairy Tail wizard. If she'd given it her all, it would've been an easy win, but she did learn one thing form that fight: killing Gildarts won't be enough to crush the guild known around Fiore for its spirit. Jose knows that, but he's desperate to beat Makarov, his lifelong rival.

"Good," Jose grinned again. "Gildarts is currently on a job, but he's on his way back to Magnolia. It'll be a while until he gets there, since his job is very far away. However, my plan is for you to go to that place and take him out before he can get anywhere near the town Magnolia. The last thing we need is more Fairies getting involved."

"Understood," Aria said with a nod, and that ended the discussion. The five Phantoms turned and left the room.

Juvia was the last out of the room, and when she turned the corner, Totomaru slung his arm around her shoulders. "Hey, Juvia. Pretty exciting job, eh? I told you it was a game-changer."

"Yeah, it is exciting. Juvia wants to take Fairy Tail down a notch, or many notches, but it seems a bit under-handed. Oh well, Juvia supposes she'll get over it."

"That's the spirit," Totomaru smiled, moving his arm so that his hand left her shoulder, and the crook of his elbow rested on the collar of her shawl, pulling himself just slightly closer to her than Juvia would like.

Juvia forcefully shoved his arm off of her and shot him a glare. "Totomaru knows he's just Juvia's friend. Juvia thinks he should cool it just a little bit."

"Sorry, I get it. But when you do realize what a good match we make, you know I'll be here," Totomaru said to the beautiful girl with light blue hair and eyes like the ocean.

Juvia smiled back at him, feeling bad for not feeling quite the same way he did, but she did have that inkling in the back of her mind that maybe she might.

Walking back to Juvia's room, the two of them talked and laughed, and Juvia came to feel that giving Toto the chance was the right path for her. They stopped outside her door, and Totomaru was about to hold her hand but didn't in the end, feeling it would be too more-than-friends by Juvia's standards. Seeing this, Juvia took the chance and gave him a tight hug.

"See you tomorrow, Toto," she whispered. "Element 4 and Gajeel will take this big-shot Fairy down."

Totomaru smiled and gave her a warm squeeze before leaving for his own room. "See, you, Juvia."

Juvia fell onto her bed, wondering if this was the right decision. _Well_, she told herself, _Toto loves Juvia more than anyone else ever has, and he's a very good friend of hers…_ Juvia let herself fantasize about her teammate, pretending she'd just met him, not being influenced by the _friend_ feeling towards him she'd developed over the years. When she let herself see him as more than a friend, she had to admit he was pretty hot.

* * *

><p>That night, she dreamt she was walking down a an empty street. Of course, it was raining, so she had her pink umbrella sitting on her shoulder.<p>

"_Juvia…._" The voice that came from behind her belonged to Totomaru, who wrapped one arm around her and took her umbrella with the other. The rain started to let up, because Juvia was as happy as she had been after her fight with the ice mage from Fairy Tail. Juvia couldn't remember his name in the dream, but she knew it was something gloomy, like Sulking or Drab. "_No_," Toto whispered. "_I like the rain. It makes me so happy when it's raining, because I know you're nearby_."

Juvia spun around to face him. Looking up into his gleaming eyes, Juvia thought he looked even more attractive than that Drab guy. Toto's black hair hung over his face, one white piece sliding down the side. His mouth was set in a partial smile, which looked dangerous in a good way. The furry, red collar of his jacket framed his face like flames blazing. Then, real flames appeared around the couple. Because it was a dream, the fire was not killed by the rain, but fed by it. Each drop that hit the ground fed it, and it grew taller and taller around them, until Juvia couldn't even see the street anymore, only Totomaru's glowing face in front of hers.

The rain fell harder and harder the larger the fire grew, and when the two of them were being pounded down on by a beautiful rain while surrounded by a comforting fire, Juvia reached up to him. The black, horizontal line that crossed his face, breaking at two points, was a feature Juvia simply loved. She kissed each of the breaks and was about to kiss his lips, but something stopped her.

"_Juvia…_." This time the voice behind her wasn't a friendly one. It was his. When Juvia met the ice mage's eye, she felt her whole body go cold. The fire around her and Totomaru vanished, and the guy in her arms turned to ice and shattered. Juvia tried to attack the black-haired Fairy with her Water Slicer, but when it hit his body, the ice decoy shattered, and Totomaru laid on the ground where it once stood, dead. Juvia's hands covered her face, and she sensed the Fairy behind her. "_Juvia…._" he said, "_Phantom Lord is weak, and you're the weakest_."

Juvia woke up screaming. _Why is it so hot in Juvia's room? Juvia feels like she's boiling! _Juvia screamed and screamed like she'd been dropped on hot coals and had begun to evaporate into nothing. Totomaru grabbed her wrists and tried to calm her down.

"Juvia! Juvia, it's okay! You're safe, nothing's wrong!" he told her, and Aria flipped the lights on, standing in the doorway across the room.

Juvia let out one last shriek and stopped, staring at Totomaru with her eyes blue as the ocean and just as wide. She tried to speak, but couldn't find her voice.

Totomaru smiled understandingly. "It's okay, Juvia. We just came by to grab you for the Gildarts job. You're okay to come, right?"

"Y-yes, of course. Juvia wouldn't let Phantom Lord down for any reason. Just give her some time to get ready."

Aria nodded, "Ten minutes till we have to be at the train station, so hurry up," and closed the door behind him and Totomaru.

Juvia dressed, washed her face, and brushed her light blue hair into its perfect line of curl around her. Fastening her shawl with her old Teru Teru Bozu, she took a moment to examine herself. She looked like she did every morning, nothing was different, even after the dream and sense of heat. In the shadows behind her, she could've sworn she saw the silhouette of the ice mage, and it made her jump. Calming down after the startle, she remembered his name, having forgotten it in the dream.

"Juvia will kill Gildarts Clive, and then she'll kill Gray Fullbuster, too. Drip, drip, drop." The Phantom Lord mage quickly walked out of her room in her brown thigh-highs to meet her team and Gajeel.

"Looking good, Juvia," Gajeel said with a wink.

"Juvia is dating Totomaru now, Gajeel," she said flatly. Everyone seemed a bit surprised, but the couple wasn't unexpected: everyone knew Totomaru liked Juvia… a lot. The fire mage, who hadn't known himself if he and Juvia were official, smiled mockingly at Gajeel, who rolled his red, snake-like eyes.

* * *

><p>The five of them were squeezed into a train compartment, almost arriving at their destination, when Aria explained the plan in greater detail. "Gildarts Clive has been on a job in the December forest up in Fiore's Northeast. Normally, it's a week's journey, but the Master wanted this done quickly, so he booked us for this AirTrain, which is much more expensive but will get us there in only a day. Our sources say he will spend the night tomorrow at the Dancing Spirit Inn in a small town called Harthblome before traveling back to Magnolia. It's very important that we take him out before he gets on the train back to Fairy Tail or we'll miss our chance at being stealthy with this. The sorrow! I can only imagine how displeased Jose would be with us if we were to fail him. Very sorrowful!"<p>

"Oh, shut up, Aria," Gajeel sneered. "Do you have to sob over every little thing?"

Aria stopped crying, but it was because he no longer felt the sorrow for it, not because Gajeel had told him to. Aria would never take orders from the likes of the iron dragon. "I am the leader of our great guild's strongest team, I think I've earned the right to cry when I feel sorrowful without being snapped at by a nail-biter. Now, when we get there, we have three rooms reserved for us at the inn. They are connected with doorways for convenience and discretion. As Gildarts uses crush magic, Juvia is our greatest asset for this job."

"Juvia is?" she asked. True, she was the second strongest mage present, but with Aria's airspace of death and power to take the magic from a mage's body, she never thought any circumstance could put her ahead of him.

"Yes, with your water body, he can't hurt you," Totomaru explained. "If any of us, even Aria, tried to get close enough for our magic to be effective, he could just kill us. Also, I've heard he can crush anything, even fire, so he's a tough target for anyone."

Juvia blushed, a touch of pink dusting her pale cheeks. If he could just crush her water, none of her attacks would do much good, but if she was the only one who could get close to him without the risk of death, she'd have to be creative and pull through for her team.

Sol smiled, giggling to himself, but Aria gave him a light smack to shut him up. The others looked at them questioningly, but Aria assured them it was nothing but Sol being immature.

The AirTrain pulled into Harthblome station, and the Phantom Lord mages stepped off of it. The little town's economy is mainly supported by tourism brought in by their unique hearthbloom tree forest on their southern border. The hearthbloom tree's bark is a brown so dark it looks black to some and smooth as polished stone, and the leaves are made of fire. Definitely worth a trip to see, but these Phantom mages were hardly tourists.

"Totomaru wants to visit the heathbloom forest, doesn't he?" Juvia teased, because ever since they first came into view of the town, Toto's eyes hadn't failed to point south.

"After the job," he clarified, breaking his stare into the fiery trees to smile at Juvia.

The group walked through the town, which bubbled over with such happiness and friendliness, they wondered why the mage whose magic was to destroy would choose it as a resting place before the week-long trip home. The group walked through town until they were on its far west side, which was bordered by a river. This neighborhood seemed just as happy and friendly as the rest of the town, but significantly more hardcore.

They found the Dancing Spirit Inn easily and stepped inside what looked more like a nightclub than an inn. It was still only noon, so nothing too exciting was happening at the moment, but when Aria checked them in, the woman at the desk informed them that the party starts at 9:30pm every night and goes as long as the people want.

"Thank you," Aria said, taking their keys and walking towards the stairs with tears sliding down from his blindfold.

In the middle room of the three they had reserved, the Phantom Lord mages waited for night and discussed strategy.

"So, if Gildarts goes dancing tonight, is the plan to lure him away when he's drunk and not thinking and kill him then?" Totomaru wondered.

"Non, non, non!" Sol yelped. "Gildarts Clive may be of Fairy Tail, but he is very powerful and very smart. Even drunk, he wouldn't be stupid enough or trusting enough to be caught alone with us."

Juvia felt a little tickle in the back of her throat. The ice mage was also both powerful and smart. _What was it Juvia had thought? "Not just a pretty face, but smart too?" What an idiot Juvia was_.

"The rooms are reserved under a fake name, and no one's recognized us yet," Aria informed them. "So letting people know this was done by Phantom won't be too much of a concern. Still, it would be better for this to happen outside of the building and far from other people. Oh, and I probably should've taken care of this earlier, but in my sorrow, I forgot: we have changes of clothes for everyone to wear, disguises."

* * *

><p>At 10:00 that night, Juvia stood on the edge of the dance floor, staring at all the dancing men and women. She wasn't expecting this to be part of the job, but if it was for Phantom, she'd be fine. Her hair was brushed out so that it hung in waves rather than it's normal, curled style. Instead of her very conservative navy dress, she now wore a rather short skirt, which was white and blue with blue waves around the hem, and a blue vest with lighter blue trim. Swallowing her nervousness, she thought of how her team upstairs was counting on her to get Gildarts outside and away from the group. He definitely wouldn't trust a suspicious group of mages, but one, beautiful, young lady? Almost definitely.<p>

Juvia put on a mask of confidence and walked into the throng of moving people. Everyone was having fun, smiling and dancing, not caring about anything but living in moment. Everyone had such a lively spirit, and Juvia could see where the inn's name came from. Soon, the spirit of the night swept her along as well and the mask dissolved into reality. She was not a bad dancer and quickly became the life of the group, letting herself have more fun than ever before.

However, she soon noticed that their target, a tall, rugged, man with orange hair, was not dancing. She'd forgotten her objective, and now felt quite disappointed in herself. Shuffling off the floor, she caught sight of this man, Gildarts Clive, at the bar with a drink in hand, looking a bit down.

_This is it, Juvia_, she told herself. _Drip, drip, drop_.

Juvia walked up to the bar and took the seat next to Gildarts. The bartender set a free drink down in front of her, but she didn't drink any of it. "Hey," she said to Gildarts.

He replied, "Hey," without any energy. Juvia smiled despite herself. It was wrong to take advantage of a person who's been through tough times emotionally—Juvia would know—but she was good at relating to people, and this was her chance to take him out.

"Juvia understands," she said nonchalantly, taking a sip of the drink in front of her.

Gildarts chuckled and drank as well. "Oh, you do? And what limbs are you missing?"

"Juvia isn't injured. Juvia's never been injured, for her body is made of water and cannot be harmed. But the thing about a water body… one's heart is quite unprotected."

"Sorry to hear that, Juvia."

"Oh, I'm okay. What's got you down?"

Gildarts hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to let this young woman in on the failure of his job. "I'm one of the strongest in my guild, Fairy Tail. Everyone looks up to me, especially Natsu, Lisanna, Cana…. Sorry, now I'm just blabbering about people you don't know."

"No, continue! Juvia wants to know."

"Well, see, I've been on this job for three years. I know they aren't supposed to exist, but you have to believe me: I was fighting a dragon." I stopped to gage Juvia's reaction, but she kept a straight face, knowing full well the existence of dragons because of Gajeel. "I don't know how I'll face the guild when I get home. I've let them down. I spent three years on a job and come home only to have lost my arm and leg in the process."

Juvia rested a hand on his shoulder, no longer trying to kill him as much as she was genuinely comforting him. "Juvia understands what it's like to disappoint people, but it was just one job, and against a dragon at that! Anyone would be proud to call him, who lasted three years against the beast and is able to return with his life, one of their guildmates. If they really look up to him, then one unaccomplished job will not condemn him."

Gildarts smiled. "I hope you're right, Juvia. My name is Gildarts, by the way."

"Oh. Well, would Gildarts like to go for a walk with Juvia?"

Gildarts paused, sensing something suspicious. _Yes, just as Aria said_, Juvia remembered, but hoped he would trust her enough to let himself be alone with her. After a few minutes of silence, Gildarts looked back up with a wide grin across his face. "Sure!"

**So, Totuvia is offcial! Sent to assassinate Gildarts and successful in their plans so far, what will become of Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail?**

**Review Please!**


	3. Reinforcements

Juvia and Gildarts walked down to the road. It was late at night, and there was no moon shining through the rain clouds above them, but the light from the hearthbloom forest was enough. The fire of a hearthbloom tree will not go out until the tree itself dies. This is something Juvia loves about the trees: they don't mind her rain.

"Gildarts doesn't mind the rain?" Juvia wondered. If the plan failed because of something like her rain, Juvia would never forgive herself. She couldn't let her team, her guild, down.

"Not at all," Gildarts confirmed. "It's actually nice, clearing my head, you know?"

Juvia smiled. When they reached the place Juvia had agreed to lead him to, a forest path on the town's east border, Gildarts stopped walking, as if he knew. head of them were the December mountains, which he looked at mournfully.

Hardening his face, he turned back to Juvia, and spoke to everyone, "Mages, I know you're there, so come out, and let's settle this."

Juvia was shocked. How did he know they were there?

Aria, Sol, Totomaru, and Gajeel came out from where they hid and faced Gildarts, still fully intending to successfully kill him. "This is not something that can be settled. Yes, it is very sad, but negotiations won't help!" Aria told him.

"Oh, I'm not looking for negotiations, just finishing this without anything getting to messy," Gildarts clarified. "You see, you had me going for a while, but you made one careless mistake: the skirt you gave Juvia just barely covers her Phantom Lord guild mark, and when she moves, it's clearly visible."

Juvia hung her head, touching a hand to the dark blue mark on her right thigh. She should've known the skirt was too short to hide it. That was her responsibility, and she failed them.

Gildarts continued, "I've already communicated with my guild via thought projection. I instructed them to take money from my account and buy themselves some AirTrain tickets. They'll be here in a day, so I either keep you busy until then, or you go home and leave my guild alone."

"Non, non, non! We aren't afraid of anyone you sent for!" Sol said.

"Yeah!" Totomaru growled. "We'll finish you off before they show up and deal with them in a flash!"

"Oh? And exactly how will you be killing me, Sonny?" Gildarts laughed. Juvia noted how he talked down to Toto, calling him "Sonny" like an old man would, but Gildarts himself was only in his forties.

The six of them stood in near silence, only the pitter patter of the rain on the ground and the faint sounds of a town at night. Juvia broke the frozen stillness to walk bravely past Gildarts to stand by Totomaru. She faced Gildarts, her eyes boring into his fiercely.

"Gildarts Clive," she said, "Juvia and her teammates know Gildarts is powerful, but they are not afraid. This is a job that will not be failed, no matter what Gildarts is expecting. Juvia will fight him one-on-one!"

"Juvia!" Totomaru gasped. They all knew she'd be the only one who could defend against him, but they had been thinking that the only offense possible would be to overwhelm him by attacking all at the same time and sneaking attacks in when he was crushing others and leaving openings. _If she fights him alone_, Totomaru worried, _she could last a long time, but if she doesn't get any hits on him, they'll just keep fighting until one of them runs out of magic power. And what if it's her?_

"Juvia will be fine, Toto," Juvia assured him. "Just go somewhere safe and figure out how to handle this."

Aria nodded and lead the others from Phantom away, into the forest.

"You're very brave," Gildarts said when the others were out of earshot. "It's nice of you to want to face me while your friends escape, because you think you're the only one who I can't kill, which is true. But you're wasting your energy. In Fairy Tail, we will win the fights, but we never kill our opponents."

"Yes, Juvia knows," she told him. "If Fairy Tail wizards believed in killing their enemies, Juvia would have had a slightly tougher time before." Gildarts looked confused for a moment. He'd heard that Fairy Tail had had problems with Phantom Lord recently, but did they fight with these same people? The Phantom Lord guild was spread out around Fiore, so why send mages so far out of their way? "But Juvia wanted to fight Gildarts herself."

"You are a strange woman," Gildarts said with a small grin. "And this will be a very interesting fight for me."

"Water Slicer!" Juvia sent silvers of high-powered water jets towards Gildarts, but they broke into 3D grids of perfect cubes and dispersed, dissolving into droplets and mixing with the rain.

"If you know my magic, why attack with that?" Gildarts asked with more genuine curiosity than cockiness. "Really, I want to know."

"Juvia just wanted to see it."

"In that case…" Gildarts focused on Juvia, and her water body separated into cubes. Gildarts smiled, knowing he hadn't killed her, only weakened. But after only a few seconds, the cubes came together again, and Juvia stood in front of Gildarts as strong as ever.

"Gildarts's magic will not work on Juvia!" she told him defiantly. Frustrated, Gildarts crushed her again and again, but each time, she reassembled herself in less than three seconds. "Gildarts can try to crush Juvia as many times as he wants. It will only lessen his magic power."

Gildarts didn't want her to be right, but after trying to crush her only five times, he was already breathing heavier. He wasn't used to things repairing themselves, and it was wearing him out.

"Yes, as Juvia power undoes the effect of Gildarts's, she absorbs it. The more power Gildarts uses, the more Juvia gains. Drip, drip, drop." This was a bluff, of course. She just wanted some reason for Gildarts to stop trying to crush her. It was getting very bothersome to have her body shattered over and over again. Plus, she didn't want him to try crushing her so fast repeatedly that she wouldn't have time to reassemble, as she suspected he was about to figure out.

"Why would you tell me this?" Gildarts asked. "Why not just let me crush you until you absorbed all my magic power?"

"Because Juvia wants to keep fighting. Drip, drip, drop. And she knows Gildarts is smarter than that. He was about to change his strategy anyway."

"And what now?" Gildarts huffed. "None of your attacks can hit me, and I cannot crush you. We're at an impasse."

"Yes, Juvia is the Rain Woman, invincible. She's even more powerful in the rain, but even indoors, Juvia either wins, or it is a draw."

"Ah, but the problem with your logic is that even if this ends in a draw, in less than a day, my guild mates will be here to help me out."

"Juvia looks forward to it," me muttered, and they dove into a battle of water attacks being crushed and attempts to crush her with enough force that she wouldn't reassemble. An endless cycle.

* * *

><p>Gajeel and the other members of Element 4 gathered in their rooms in the Dancing Spirit Inn, trying to think of a way to help Juvia with Gildarts.<p>

"Why did she challenge him alone?" Gajeel wondered aloud. "Hmph. I guess the real reason is why didn't any of you stop her. She's going to get killed."

"Well, if you're so worried for her, why didn't you do anything?" Totomaru spat. He felt bad for letting Juvia fight Gildarts, but he knew she was the only one of them who'd stand a chance.

Aria and Sol discussed plans quietly, letting Totomaru and Gajeel bark at each other in the corner. "What if I were to sneak up from beneath him," Sol suggested, "and trap him in earth? Maybe throw in a torturous illusion or two of his past? His wife left him eighteen years ago, I could use that!"

"No, Monsieur," Aria told him. "He'd crush your earth as soon as he saw it move around him. So sorrowful, how you'd never even get a chance to trap him."

"Yes, and you couldn't sneak in and use an airspace. Even if he didn't notice it and crush the air—or worse, you—Miss Juvia would likely be caught up in it and affected as well."

"Yes, that would be sorrowful," Aria mumbled. Sol was a bit confused, as Aria wasn't crying like he normally did when something was sorrowful, but smiling. Before Sol could say something, Aria chuckled a bit, and Sol kept his mouth shut.

Totomaru stopped arguing with Gajeel long enough to offer a plan of his to Aria. Aria pretended to think about it for a bit before agreeing it was a good plan, when it really wasn't. No matter, they weren't going to be following it. "It won't work unless it's the middle of the night," Totomaru apologized, "So the other Fairies may be here by the time we can execute it. Is that okay, Aria?"

"Fine, perfectly fine. We move out tomorrow night," Aria said with a sly smile. "And don't worry, I'm positive Juvia can keep Gildarts busy until then."

* * *

><p>Five Fairy Tail wizards sat on an AirTrain bound for Harthblome station. When Gildarts's thought projection requested help in the small town and offered to pay for five AirTrain tickets, it was the first five to volunteer that got to go. Time was of the essence. Only ten people were in the guild at that late hour, so the five that ended up coming were Team Shadow Gear—Levy McGarden, Jet, and Droy—Cana Alberona, and Gray Fullbuster.<p>

"Levy, you're going to beat up whoever these guys are who are giving our Gildarts a hard time in two seconds flat!" Droy cheered.

"No, one second flat!" Jet added.

"Guys, we shouldn't underestimate them. Gildarts said they were from Phantom Lord, and while we beat them a little over a week ago, it was a tough fight, and we had the entire guild. This will take all of our effort," Levy reminded them.

"Oh, Levy is so smart!" Jet and Droy exclaimed in unison.

"Cana, don't look so discouraged," Gray said. "Natsu may still be recovering from his fight with Laxus, but we're capable enough without him!"

"I'm not discouraged!" Cana snapped and took a sip of beer. "I'm just worried for Gildarts. I know how powerful he is, but if he called for help, are we sure he'll be okay by the time we get there?"

"Don't worry, Cana," Levy assured her. "He'll be fine."

Cana nodded, knowing Levy was right. But if anything happened to Gildarts, Fairy Tail would lose an admired guild member, and she'd lose a father.

When the train stopped in Harthblome station, the mages of Fairy Tail got off, and Jet ran ahead at full speed. He first ran to the inn Gildarts said he was staying at and then ran through the nearby streets and forest.

"Three of Phantom's Element 4 and Gajeel are at the inn, but they're about to leave. Gildarts is in the forest fighting the other member of Element 4, Juvia of the Deep," he reported.

"I figured she was here, 'cause of the rain," Gray said, and explained to the others what Juvia'd told him before about it always raining wherever she went. "Now, let's go get them and help Gildarts out!"

They charged ahead, Jet matching their pace, until they came to the place in the forest where Jet had seen the fight. Aria, Totomaru, Sol, and Gajeel arrived at just the same time the Fairies did, but neither Juvia nor Gildarts took much notice of them. After nearly twenty-four hours, both were going at each other with what they knew were useless attacks and only looked slightly tired.

Juvia held Gildarts in a Water Lock for ten full seconds before he crushed it, which worried the Fairy Tail mages. Gildarts was running out of power faster than Juvia? Juvia knew she'd be able to wear him out eventually; it was all a matter of patience. In the rain, Juvia could never run out of magic power, because as it fell into her, it refreshed her and kept her going for as long as she needed.

This is why she hated Gray for stopping her rain. Not only did he cause her to let herself lose for the first and only time, but what if the rain never came back? What would she have done without its life-giving power? She and Gildarts shifted in their fight and both noticed the spectators—who had been too consumed in the battle before them to challenge each other-for the first time.

Gildarts smiled because he had his guild mates to back him up. Juvia smiled because she had an opportunity for revenge on that attractive but exasperating ice mage.

**And so, our plot moves forward as a simple assassination job turns into another battle of the guilds! And how will Juvia deal with Gray? Reviews appreciated! **


	4. Opponents

"Gildarts!" the Fairy Tail wizards shouted, happy to see that he was doing okay.

"Thanks for coming, guys," he said back but didn't move his attention from Phantom Lord.

The Fairies followed his cue and prepared to fight Phantom, but Element 4 and Gajeel remained calm and collected. While both parties gathered, keeping one eye over their shoulders, to discuss what to do, Gajeel pulled Juvia aside.

"I know how you feel about that ice guy," he told her. "I think, if you really want to get back at him, just do it. Kick his ass, no matter what Aria's got up his big green sleeve."

"Thanks, Gajeel," Juvia smiled. The rain began to pour harder down on them as Juvia got pumped up for a rematch with Gray Fullbuster.

"I'm thinking an airspace attack is best," Aria told them. "It's so sorrowful, but to just wipe them all out with one blow would be most convenient."

"But can't Gildarts crush things like airspace?" Totomaru wondered. "Titania could cut through it, so I'm sure he can crush it. Use it to wipe out the others, but we have to get him separated from them first."

"Why don't we just charge in and do whatever the heck we want?" Gajeel asked. "Let's really give them a socking! Gildarts is the only strong one."

"Yes, and Juvia knows Gildarts won't crush any member of Phantom Lord, because Fairy Tail never kills their opponents."

Aria glanced at Sol, but ultimately agreed to the plan to disregard any plan. The five Phantom Lord mages turned to Fairy Tail, intending to fight, but the Fairies were standing in a line, facing them.

"We've decided," Cana announced, "that it may be in our best interest to split up this group up so that we can fight in smaller groups. Unless you have any objections, we've already set up pairs: Jet and Droy vs. Totomaru, Gray vs. Gajeel, Levy vs. Juvia, Gildarts vs. Aria, and myself vs. Sol. We see these as fair fights, but if you have any objections, please share."

Juvia didn't know why Fairy Tail was giving them the option to alter the fights, but she decided not to question it. "Yes, Juvia would like to fight Gray Fullbuster!"

Gray was startled. He remembered how Juvia had let him win before. She had an odd light in her eyes then, but now her eyes shone with vengeance and bloodlust. "But now that leaves Levy with Gajeel," he pointed out.

"I can do it," Levy said, facing Gajeel with the full intention of winning against the iron dragon.

"Levy! You're so brave and confident and strong!" Jet and Droy cheered.

With no other objections, the groups split up, dispersing into the forest to fight without interference of the others. The mages of Phantom Lord thought the Fairies were being oddly friendly about it all, but went along with it. _If Gray wants to die far from his friends, Juvia won't stop him._

When Juvia and Gray arrived at their destination, she wasted no time and immediately trapped him in a Water Lock.

Gray quickly froze the water and freed himself as he had when they fought before, but this time, it didn't capture Juvia's heart. Instead, it filled her with even more rage. How dare he manipulate her heart, manipulate her water.

"Ice Hammer!" Gray shouted, slamming a block of ice down on Juvia, but her water body quickly reformed, and she sent Water Slicers after him. Dodging them, he said to her, "This fight will play out just like it did last time! I can just freeze or dodge your attacks, and there's no way I can harm you."

"No," Juvia said coolly, "last time, Gray manipulated Juvia's heart and caused her to let him win. This time, Juvia's water is focused on her target. Juvia's rage won't be bent by Gray's charm as it was before." She bombarded him with searing hot water, which he tried to freeze but wasn't able to.

_Ugh,_ he groaned to himself, _this stuff is mostly steam already. How am I supposed to freeze it?_

"How dare Gray cause Juvia to let him win! How dare he think he beat her! How dare Gray stop Juvia's rain!" she screeched, continuing the flow of boiling water from her palms.

Gray could barely make out what she was shouting at him through the pounding rush of the water around him. He tried to run, but the water followed him, and soon, with his skin in such searing pain, it hurt to move.

Juvia saw his pain, and taunted him, "Maybe if Gray put on a shirt now and then, Juvia's water wouldn't hurt so much!"

When she made a crack at his stripping, some part of Gray woke up form under the pain of the boiling water that enveloped him, and the found the energy to leap out of its path and find shelter behind a thick tree. In the few seconds it took Juvia to run around to him, he'd coated himself in ice, offering temporary protection from the burning water.

Juvia wouldn't let herself admire his cleverness. Not again. This mage had twisted her emotions, caused her to let him win a fight, and called her rain gloomy. _He's just like the others. No, he's so much worse. _

"Water Nebula!" Two streams of Juvia's water whipped around Gray and sent him flying up into the trees. He hit several branches, which cracked the ice coating just a bit.

Gray landed back down on the soft earth, letting his ice armor shatter off of him. He didn't need it anymore. "Juvia, wait!"

"No, Juvia doesn't wait!" she yelled, sending more Water Slicers after him. "Juvia is ruthless!"

"Please, I just want to know why you're acting so different now from last time!"

"Because Juvia is stronger now! Juvia's heart will not be manipulated. Water Jigsaw!" Juvia swirled around, becoming a tornado of water blades, and came down on Gray faster than he could defend himself. She spun and spun, hitting him with as many blades as she could, cutting his exposed skin before he could coat himself in ice.

Gray managed to get himself out of her path for just a second, and she reverted to her original form, her eyes narrowed down on him. "Gray humiliated Juvia, and Juvia does not forgive."

After having beaten Jet and Droy, Totomaru ran through the trees to find Juvia and help her. No one ever said they couldn't help their allies out after defeating their enemies.

Juvia and Gray were still in a heated battle, and just as Totomaru found them and showed up on Juvia's side of the tussle, Gray sent a shot from his Ice Canon towards her. The ice bullet passed easily through Juvia, and ended up hitting Totomaru in the chest. "Juvia!" he coughed.

"Totomaru?" Juvia gasped, spinning around to see her wounded boyfriend and longtime teammate.

Juvia kneeled next to Toto to try to help him, but it was useless. He was dying. Gray couldn't believe what he'd done. He hadn't noticed the fire mage come up through the trees behind Juvia and wasn't thinking enough to remember that the shot would only go through her. He'd killed someone. It may have been an accident, but he was now a murderer.

Totomaru squeezed Juvia's hand and whispered, "I'm glad I got to be your boyfriend for at least a couple days," before closing his eyes for the last time.

"Toto! Totomaru! Toto!" Juvia wailed, but he was dead. The Rain Woman slowly turned to face Totmaru's killer, the black-haired boy with eyes filled with pure fear.

* * *

><p>"Solid Script: Fog!"<p>

A massive block of fog shaped like the word "fog" appeared around Gajeel and the small, blue-haired Fairy Tail mage, who'd cast the spell. The fog soon fell from its form and filled the night air. It was so thick, Gajeel couldn't see his hand, much less the end of his iron pillar of an arm.

"You must think you're really smart, don't you?" he called into the stillness.

"I've been told that." The fragile voice came from a completely different direction than he would've guessed her to be.

"Well, you underestimate people. Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel growled, sending a rushing spiral of metal shards in the direction her voice had come from and then all around them.

"Impressive."

Gajeel looked up to see Levy, the fog having been mostly cleared by his roar, sitting on the low branch of the tree directly next to him. Her face was literally six inches from his. _How did she get there without me noticing?_ he gawked. "Iron Dragon Sword!" his arm quickly transformed into a chainsaw, which he slashed at the branch, but she was already on the other side of their area, moving light as a feather.

"Solid Script: Electricity!" Several glowing lines appeared in the air, spelling the word, but when they deformed into a more natural shape of lighting bolts, they quickly descended onto Gajeel, electrocuting him.

Levy walked over to stand above Gajeel. Wounded, he looked up at her and felt how he thought Juvia felt for Gray. How dare she beat him. She, this little girl in an orange dress with two red stripes, black leggings, and orange armbands. He'd beaten her before. He'd nearly killed her and her team less than two weeks ago! What had happened to him? Had he turned soft?

"You're the one who attacked my team," she said, anger lacing her voice. "You destroyed our guild building and hurt Lu-chan. Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why?'" Gajeel spat.

"I mean, you actually seem like a good person, deep down," she smiled. It was one of those kinds of smiles that really pissed Gajeel off, one of those I'm-so-nice-and-optimistic-and-cute-and-smart-and-powerful-and-cute-and-adorable-with-my-little-headband-and-my-cute-blue-hair-flopping-around-like-a-little-bird-and-my-hazel-eyes-that-are-just-so-damn-cute…..

Before he knew it, Gajeel was getting less and less pissed off by that magical smile. In fact, he began to crack a small smile himself—

_No, this is what happened to Juvia. If I let myself lose now, I'll just hate myself later. _Gajeel recomposed his frown and answered, "Same reason you're fighting me now: for my guild!" As she was leaning over him, he took the opportunity to punch an iron pillar into her little gut.

* * *

><p>Cana saw it all: her mother telling her that wizards were a lazy, drunk group of people, driven by alcohol; her mother dying and leaving her to search for her father, who she'd only heard bad things about; her father never paying her any mind and only seeming to care about the other, more powerful kids in the guild; the lonely years he'd spend away on jobs, which she'd spend with friends or with a drink, hoping that when he next returned, she'd be good enough to call herself his daughter; and the S-class exams, all four tests, all four failures… She saw her mother shaking her head in disappointment, <em>How could my daughter become a drunken wizard? The most drunken of them all! How could any daughter of mine fail four exams in a row and still show her face in that guild?<em>

Cana tried to tell herself that her mother never said these things, that they were only lies spun from assumptions. She pushed herself to be stronger, but she couldn't. In this vast expanse of mist and pain, she just felt so weak. _No, I'm Gildarts's daughter! I am stronger than this! _she told herself and broke out of the stone that was encasing her body.

She turned toward Sol, her opponent, only to find a stone statue of her mother, looking forlorn. But Cana would not be fooled by any of Sol's tricks. She whipped out her cards and destroyed the statue.

"Non, non, non," Sol chanted, rising up from the earth. "One mustn't hurt one's own mother!"

"You aren't my mother," Cana muttered and threw spell after spell at Sol, who fought back fiercely but lost in the end.

Leaving the area with several significant wounds, Cana walked through the forest to find the fight between Aria and Gildarts.

In the distance, she heard the sound of strong winds and breaking earth, so she knew she was going in the right direction. When she finally found them, she was bleeding heavily and just barely walking with the help of the trees, but if there was any help she could offer him, she'd persevere.

She came up to the fight on Aria's side just in time to see him remove his blindfold in order to cast the airspace of death.

It all happened simultaneously: Gildarts began to crush the airspace, Cana called out, "Father!" to him, he noticed her and lost control of the crush magic.

**Yes, you will notice that I love cliffhanger endings. Is it because most Fairy Tail chapters and episodes end in cliffhangers? Maybe. At this point, the story is branching out into some of the other characters, but the main focus will still be Juvia and her issue with Gray. Poor Toto :'( **

**Reviews, please. **


	5. Demise

The airspace broke into cubes, but the crush continued to moved forward. Aria thought fast and teleported a safe distance away, leaving Cana in the path of the magic grid, moving through the air and crushing all in its path. Seeing her in harm's way, Gildarts leapt forward, flying across the battle field and landing nearly on top of her. He quickly flipped around and crushed his own crush magic before it could get any closer.

"You okay?" he asked Cana.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She took his hand to herself up and brushed herself off. "I didn't know you could move so fast." But then, something caught her eye, something that had been covered by his cloak before. "Woah, hold up, is that a peg leg?"

"Yeah," Gildarts sighed, tossing his cloak away to reveal that his left arm was missing from the elbow down. "I was going to get some really high-quality prosthetics on my way home, but thanks to all this, I'll probably be late for my appointment."

Cana smiled to herself. _Same old Gildarts_, she thought. Even in such dangerous times, he was thinking about his doctor's appointment.

"Oh, so what was that you said a minute ago? 'Father?'" he asked, and she froze up. She couldn't' tell him she was his daughter yet, not until she's S-class. That shout the moment before was just a knee-jerk reaction to Aria and the threat of death.

"Um, no, I was shouting…" Cana tried to come up with some lie to tell him for now. What rhymed with "Otosan"? "Um, shouting, 'You go, Gildarts….?'"

Both of them knew what Cana had really said, but Gildarts was the type of person who could recognize that Cana had a reason for covering it up, so he didn't pry into it any more. The truth would come out eventually, and then they could talk.

Aria appeared in front of them, having seen that it was again safe to return to the area. "Oh? Another Fairy has showed up? How sorrowful! Now I will not take only one member of your guild, but two. The sorrow, the sorrow…."

"No one's dying in this fight!" Cana yelled, and she and Gildarts began to fight him together.

The battle of Cana and Gildarts versus Aria played out very much like the one of Gildarts versus Juvia: they'd attack, he'd dodge, he'd attack, Gildarts would crush it.

"See, Cana," Gildarts jeered, "Phantom Lord talks a big game, but when it comes right down to it, all they have is a good defense. If you want to win, don't neglect your offense."

"Gildarts, don't you think underestimating the enemy is a little cocky?" Cana worried.

Aria filled the air with his airspace of death, but again Gildarts crushed it, continuing their cycle. But bad fortune soon fell upon the Fairies when an iron pillar extended from the trees, knocking Gildarts unconscious—with possible internal bleeding in his head—so fast, Gildarts couldn't notice or react in time.

Gajeel emerged from the foliage, smiling to himself. "This was getting boring. I feel bad now, that we made Juvia fight that guy for a full day before doing anything."

Cana was kneeling at her father's side, trying to wake him, but he was out. "You… what the hell do you think you're doing?" she growled at Gajeel. "Just attacking form your hiding place in the middle of a fight is underhanded and weak!"

"Ah, but even so, I'm the one standing and he's the one dreaming, so who's really the weak one in this situation?" Gajeel said, dodging the spells sent by Cana's cards. "Gee-hee."

Cana, with her eyes filled with tears and rage, didn't even notice Aria casting his death airspace, which Gajeel jumped out of just in time. He launched himself into the trees and flipped around to stand next to Aria. The two Phantoms watched the Fairy collapse.

"Gildarts was the real target. It's their own fault if they get in the way, but still… it is so sorrowful!" Aria wailed.

"I was almost caught up in that," Gajeel pointed out angrily.

"I was confident you'd know me well enough to see what I was doing and get out," Aria defended.

"If Fairy Tail hadn't shown up, you weren't going to go through with Totomaru's plan, were you? You were going to kill Gildarts, and you didn't even care if Juvia was effected as well. Isn't that right?"

"It would have been sorrowful, but Phantom Lord can sacrifice for success," he said plainly.

Gajeel wanted to punch him in the face so hard he'd end up just like Gildarts: his brain filling with blood until his eyes closed forever and lungs let out their final breath. But he restrained himself. Juvia was fine. Though Aria was a jerk, nothing had happened. He tried to convince himself that this made it okay, even though it didn't.

He did the same thing when he tried to convince himself that it was okay to leave that cute girl unconscious and badly wounded alone in the middle of the forest. He tried not to think about her sparkling hazel eyes, her blue hair that moved like the petals of a unique and beautiful flower, or the way she jumped so silently and so gracefully. He tried not to let himself love her, the girl he'd hurt twice now, and was beginning to regret ever meeting. _If she never met me, she'd be so much happier. She definitely wouldn't be alone and close to death_.

* * *

><p>"Juvia does not forgive," she said, her bright blue eyes blazing with rage.<p>

Gray squeezed his own eyes shut. He felt terrible for accidently killing Totomaru, who seemed to have recently become Juvia's boyfriend. But what could he say? "Sorry," was what he felt, but it wouldn't cut it this time.

"J-Juvia…" she stuttered, through her rage. Her entire face was tense, her eye brows shaking between anger and sadness. _The one Juvia had loved and hated has killed Juvia's true love. Juvia cannot forgive, but she must play this right_. "Juvia is angry at Gray, but she cannot harm him."

"What?" Gray wondered in shock, opening his pained eyes to meet hers, which were filled with conflicting emotions. Her words, that she couldn't harm him, were just like they had been when they first fought, but somehow, it was different now. Not only her attitude, but her outfit was different. He hadn't noticed it before, but she was now wearing a blue tank top with lighter blue trim and a short white and blue skirt that had blue waves around the bottom (a lot different from her previous, more conservative outfit), and her hair hung in waves rather than the distinctive curled-up style.

"When Juvia fought Gray over a week ago, she fell desperately in love with him, but then, Juvia thought she hated him and dated Totomaru. Now, when Juvia should be attacking Gray, who she shouldn't be able to forgive, Juvia feels that she'd been in denial. Juvia still loves Gray!" She took slow, impassioned steps towards him. "Gray has stolen Juvia's heart, and though Juvia tries to convince herself otherwise, she cannot bring herself to use force to steal it back!"

"Huh?" Gray's jaw dropped. She'd been fighting him viciously until Totomaru showed up.

"Juvia is so confused about a lot of things, but she knows that Gray is definitely the one she loves and cannot harm! She wants to hold that burning hate for the man who killed Totomaru, but she only feels a burning love for the one who stopped the rain." Now, Juvia was standing right in front of Gray, so close, the hands that clutched the Teru Teru Bozu were nearly touching his chest.

"I-I-I" Gray didn't know what to say. "I really don't understand. You shouldn't love me. I'm your enemy, and I killed your boyfriend, your teammate, your guild mate! I should be unforgivable. I am unforgivable! You're the one who never forgives, and yet you can't even harm the one who deserves it most!"

Gray started to back away, but Juvia reached a hand up to his neck and pulled his head down so she could whisper something into his ear. "Juvia loved Gray. Gray stole Juvia's heart. Juvia loved seeing the beauty of the clear skies Gray brought, but Juvia loves the rain more. Water Slicer."

Before Gray could defend himself, a speeding stream of water flew from Juvia's hand and through his neck, killing him.

Juvia stood in the middle of the clearing, Gray's blood pooling in the grass at her feet and mixing with her rain, Totomaru dead by the tree line. The two boys she's ever loved were dead, one by her own hand. Juvia will forever be a Rain Woman, a dark being that bring despair wherever it goes. Forever, she'll be the Rain Woman of Phantom Lord who does not forgive and hands out doom, bringing herself nothing but gloom.

"Drip, drip, drop."

**I know, it took a while longer and is only half as long as the other chapters, but whatever. I am a very strong Gruvia fan, as anyone would be able to tell by my other stories, but from the beginning, I've wanted it to be very dark, for Juvia to be very dark, and I definitely wanted her to kill Gray. I hope you liked it! Review, please. **


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